Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Man unintentionally shoots and kills daughter

51-year-old Scott Hazelbaker, of Des Moines, Iowa, was at home with his 18-year-old daughter Emily. Hazelbaker told a reporter that the two were joking around, having fun, while Emily was packing and getting ready to go to Kansas City for a concert the next night.
A news release from police details what happened next. "Early reports suggest Scott Hazelbaker pointed a handgun at his daughter and pulled the trigger without knowing a bullet was loaded in the gun."
Emily died at the scene.
Hazelbaker called Emily his best friend. He said he will have to live for the rest of his life with the fact that he pulled the trigger. According to a neighbor, Hazelbaker "talked about how his daughter was his prized possession."
Hazelbaker has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault by intentionally pointing a weapon at his daughter.

And the ultimate irony is that those of us who are surviving family members of gun violence and who know his pain will be there for this gun owner in his grief. I hope he will take advantage of the resources out there to help him through this extraordinarily difficult time and connect with us. We can give him a study pair of shoes as walks through the fires of hell.

Ohh Shoot highlights unintentional shootings. Some might refer to these as accidental shootings, but accident is too often interpreted as unavoidable. The shootings on this blog did not have to happen. Safe storage, better gun design, gun safety training are just some of the measures that could have prevented these tragedies.